Successful people in business are often
admired, not just for their business successes per se - in other
words we are sometimes jealous of their salary! -, but often for
their motivation and persistence in reaching their goals. Indeed,
today's honorary graduate was described by more than one colleague
of his I spoke to as a 'mover and a shaker!' But today we honour
more than a highly successful businessman in Mr Beckwith. For
not only has he created, nurtured, and developed a highly successful
and diverse business empire, but he has made a huge contribution
to the voluntary sector, including charities and sport, as well
as Loughborough University itself. In short, he is a man who has
made a real difference in not one, but many, spheres of life.

John Lionel Beckwith was educated at Harrow
School and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen's.
In 1971 he established, with his brother Peter, the property company
London & Edinburgh Trust, and was Chairman until 1993.
During that time, London & Edinburgh Trust became one
of the top ten property companies in the UK and a leading international
company, with offices worldwide. From 1986 until 1991, Mr Beckwith
was Founding Chairman of Rutland Trust PLC, the diversified
corporate finance, venture capital and insurance broking group.

Since leaving London & Edinburgh
Trust, Mr Beckwith has developed the private investment company
Pacific Investments PLC of which he is Chairman. This focuses
on four core areas:

Sports and leisure, through Sporting
Frontiers Ltd

Healthcare, through Pacific Healthcare
Ltd

Asset management, through River &
Mercantile PLC

and property, through the splendidly simple
yet descriptive name of The General Property Investment Company
Ltd!

From 1993 until its successful sale in 1997 to First Leisure
PLC, Mr Beckwith was Chairman of Riverside PLC, which
owned the Riverside Racquets and Espree health, tennis and fitness
chain, which he had developed during his involvement with London
& Edinburgh Trust. Recent activities also include the
founding, development and sale of leisure group Riverside,
property group Portfolio Holdings, Sport and Outdoor Media
and Barbican Healthcare, alongside the founding and flotation
of fund managers Liontrust and new media group Convergence.

These achievements alone, I am sure, will
have satisfied you - graduates and friends of graduates from business
and economics - that here is a man making a huge contribution
to society and thereby being worthy of this honorary degree. However,
it does not stop there! Mr Beckwith has supported a wide range
of voluntary sector organisations and charities for many years.
He is Vice-President of the Royal National Institute for the
Blind and was Chairman of their Looking Glass Appeal
that raised over £8m. He is a member of the Development
Board of the Cancer Relief Macmillan Fund and Patron of
the Teenage Cancer Trust, and has funded a specialist
cancer unit at Hammersmith Hospital. Mr Beckwith's contributions
to charitable causes were recognised in 1995 with the award of
CBE.

Finally, Mr Beckwith has a keen and active
involvement in sport, and this is not just through having run
four marathons or being a member of the MCC, Queen's Club, the
Berkshire Royal Golf Club, or Rosslyn Park Rugby Club! Indeed,
his involvement is more than this and it seems wholly appropriate
for Mr Beckwith to be receiving his honorary degree at Britain's
top sporting university. In 1999, he was awarded the Central Council
for Physical Recreation's Arthur Bell Trophy for Services to Community
Sport.

Fuelled by witnessing an incident of extreme
anti-social behaviour some years ago, Mr Beckwith became convinced
that sport could be an important vehicle for enhancing people's
lives and for positive social change. In particular, he believed
that children and young people should be given every opportunity
to be channelled away from negative activities into positive ones,
such as sport. As a psychologist myself, I have studied the potential
psychological and social benefits of sport, and I know that simply
playing is not enough. The important ingredient is people - informed
and enthusiastic leaders, whether parents, teachers, coaches,
or other helpers. In helping create and develop the Youth Sport
Trust, Mr Beckwith has enabled this process of sports development
for the wider social good to be exploited. Established in 1994,
the Youth Sport Trust is a national sports charity with
the aim of improving sporting provision for all children in the
UK and for identifying and nurturing young people with talent
in sport. Mr Beckwith is currently the Chair of the Trust and
has made a personal commitment of over £1m, including establishing
the Institute of Youth Sport and the Beckwith Professorship of
Youth Sport here at Loughborough University.

The Youth Sport Trust, with Mr Beckwith's
contribution of time, money and networking, has secured over £20m
for sports development for young people, including funding from
corporate sponsorship, the National Lottery, and grant-making
trusts and foundations. At the end of 1999, the Youth Sport
Trust had reached 2.5 million young people, had distributed
over 35,000 bags of sports equipment to schools and organisations,
and trained over 150,000 teachers and other sports leaders. Now
that's what I call 'making a difference!'

For his work in business, charities, and
the voluntary sector, and for his wider contribution to society,
therefore, Mr Chancellor, I have the honour to present to you,
and to the whole University, JOHN LIONEL BECKWITH, CBE for the
degree of DOCTOR OF LETTERS honoris causa.